Produced by Alex Rogals & Dominic Cuskern.
Season 59 | 2025-2026 | 29th Annual
Week one: (January 15-18, 2026)
- Desert Animals by Stephen Dierkes. Directed by Miranda Simon
Featuring: Robert Alston, Ryan Fahey & Claudia Maurino
| SYNOPSIS: A man commits the unspeakable in a California desert and spends the next day wrestling with something akin to remorse. |
- Tell Me When It’s High Noon by Mark Eisman. Directed by Mark Gallagher
Featuring: Cullen Asbery, Joe Bliss, James Miller & Cassaundra Reed
| SYNOPSIS: Once upon a time in Hollywood, there was an iconic, laconic, heroic leading man named Gary Cooper. Recently there was a barroom murder on Monday. The accused: Gary Cooper. Larry thinks this Gary Cooper is his personal high school hero. Larry’s husband doubts it. |
- The Waterfall Scene by James Kelsey Nelson. Directed by Felisha Heng
Featuring: Caitlyn Alico Beckwith, Noah Chartrand, Daniella Rodriguez & Emily Welter
| SYNOPSIS: When Annalise shows the poem she has written for her best friend she starts a chain reaction of overwhelming enthusiasm for her literary work. However a publisher soon takes the reins. |
- Four White Chairs by William C. Woxlin. Directed by Mark Harborth
Featuring: Owen Bird, Parker Damm, Loey Jones-Perpich, Laura Tewksbury & Isabelle Wood
| SYNOPSIS: An absurd play set in a bunker, where three workers and their supervisor are tasked to prepare the space and await the arrival of four white chairs for an unspecified event. As tensions mount over conflicting instructions, the correct shade of white, existential ruminations, and a growing sense of isolation and detachment, something unsettling happens to the world outside. |
Thursday, Friday & Saturday at 7.30PM. Sunday at 3PM (post-show talkback with Playwrights).
Tickets: Adult $25. Senior/Child $20.
Week two: (January 22-25, 2026)
- Formal by Patrick McEvoy. Directed by Lauren Bidwell
Featuring: Eva Daskos, Kat Quiñones, Tom Shane & Liz Weiner
| SYNOPSIS: Leena invites her lover Alexandra over for a family dinner and she is not the usual house-guest — but Mom and Dad have a surprise in store as well. |
- Genetic Funk by Constance Humphrey Egan. Directed by Jon Gellert.
Featuring: Ashley Blum, Katie Nisa & Lisa Tiger
| SYNOPSIS: Jennie is in defiant denial about her progressing disease. Her daughter and sister are forced to deal with the fall out from her decisions. |
- Confidence Course by Evan Manning. Directed by Graydon Gund.
Featuring: Robert Alston, Neil Smithson, Jordan Theodore & Ronnie Williams
| SYNOPSIS: In the abandoned dining hall of Camp Pocomoke, four friends gather on the eve of their covid-delayed 10-year high school reunion. |
Thursday, Friday & Saturday at 7.30PM. Sunday at 3PM (post-show talkback with Playwrights).
Tickets: Adult $25. Senior/Child $20.
Production Staff
Matthew Hrones: Production Stage Manager
Caroline Nowak: Lighting Designer
Graydon Gund: Sound Designer
Kash McSherry: Assistant Stage Manager
Maggie Hannan: Assistant Stage Manager
Alex Rogals: Co-Producer
Dominic Cuskern: Co-Producer
Nic Neipert: Social Media & Marketing
Production poster graphics by Chris Kind, Performing Pixel Design
Highlights from Season 58 Black Box New Play Festival
Production photos by Kat Vecchio
“Words can’t express what I feel right now. What a special two nights I just had. Sitting with friends and strangers and watching 2 hours of my work in a theater full of love and support for my writing. This whole process has been not only fun but important because I learned so much from seeing OCEAN PLANET staged and realized. What a special memory. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for believing in me and producing this weekend of my plays.”
– Brett Epstein, playwright